Trap to prevent robbery of a bank



April 11, 1967 TRAP TO PREVENT ROBBERY OF A BANK Filed Nov. 18, 1965 2Sheets-Sheet l RECDR DER JRDJ April 11, 1967 A. TURANO TRAP TO PREVENTROBBERY OF A BANK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 18, 1965 INVENTOR.Luz/15A. TL/RA N0 BY 7 san -a Patented Apr. 11, 1967 3,313,250 TRAP TOPREVENT ROBBERY F A BANK Louis A. Turano, 118 Center Ave., AtlanticHighlands, NJ. 07716 Filed Nov. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 598,422 3 Claims.(Cl. 109-6) This invention relates to traps particularly designed forentrapping bandits, holdups, burglars, etc., and preventing their escapefrom a store or bank after an attempted robbery.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a simple andpositive operating mechanism for a device of this character.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for imprisoning thevictim after he has been trapped.

A still further object of this invention is to provide the means forseparating the individuals approaching a teller so that only a singleindividual may be in position for entrapment by the teller in the eventthe individual attempts to rob the bank.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a sound recordingof the conversation between the teller and the individual attempting torob the bank and in which the recording is simultaneously produced on aspeaker to a security otficer for protection.

A still further object of this invention is to provide entrapping meansfor dropping and imprisoning a victim who is attempting to hold up ateller in a bank in which the entrapping means comprises a retractablefloor opening immediately in front of the tellers window.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a retractablefloor opening in a bank for entrapping a victime attempting to hold up ateller in which the retractable means is operated by an explosive chargeto provide instant retraction of the floor.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a cell likestructure below a trap door positioned in front of a tellers cage inwhich the entrapping cell like structure is padded to receive a fallingbody and in which the cell like structure is provided with a gas port topermit filling the cell with a gas such as tear gas and in which anobservation window is provided for examining the victime before openingthe cell.

Further objects of this invention shall be apparent by reference to theaccompanying detailed description and the drawings in which FIG. 1 is aperspective illustration of trap door positioned in front of tellerwindows,

FIG. 2 is an elevational view in cross section of a trap door andentrapping cell positioned under said trap door,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged detail of the trap door operating mechanism, and

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of the electrical circuit andcomponents associated with this device.

Referring to the drawings and particularly FIG. 1 there is illustrated atypical bank counter 19 with a plurality of teller openings 11 to permitthe normal banking between the customer and the teller. On the customersside of counter in front of each teller window there is provided a pairof trap doors 12 and 14 in the floor 9. There is also provided a rail 15that extends along the outer edge of the trap doors, that is, the outeredge away from counter 16. The rail 15 is comprised of a hand rail 16supported on a plurality of posts 17, posts 17 being mounted in thefloor 9. There are openings 20 in the rail structure, that is, there isa break in rail 16 to provide an entrance and exit opening 24} in thefenced olf areas. This permits the customer to enter through an openingto move into position in front of a teller window. In order that onlyone customer at a time moves into this position, a pivotally mounted bar21 is supported on one of the posts 17 to bar the entrance of a secondcustomer. Bar 21 is spring pressed into the position as illustrated inFIG. 1 and locks in this position after a customer has passed through.The lock retaining bar 21 is mounted in counter Id and is released bythe teller when the prior customer leaves the teller position thuspermitting the next customer to pass through bar 21 to the tellersposition for the servicing of the next customer. It is apparent thateach customer leaving will exit through the opening 20 as indicated inFIG. 1. The counter 10 is provided with a glass 22 or some form ofbarrier between teller windows or openings 11. The glass or barrier 22thus provides means to hide a protective device situated on counter 10which may be in the form of a movie camera 23 and tape recorder 24, themovie camera being directed toward and focused for a customer standingdirectly in front of a teller. The tape recorder 24 is connected to amicrophone 25 which may be positioned in any position directly in linebetween the teller and the customer. It is also to be noted that thefloor 9 is preferably laid out in the form of tiles 26 so that theoutline area of the trap doors 12 and 14 will fall directly on the lineof joining tiles so that the trap doors are not to be recognized and arenot apparent.

Referring to FIG. 2 which is a cross sectional view of floor 9 and thetrap doors 12 and 14, there is a cell 30 situated below the trap doors.Cell 30 may be in any rigid form such as steel plate or reinforcedconcrete and of a depth to permit the tallest of prospective victims tobe below the reach of the trap doors. Cell 30 may be padded with padding31 and may be provided with a shock proof mattress type flooring 32 toinsure the safe drop of a victim within cell 30. Cell 30 will beprovided with an access door 33 to permit entering and leaving cell 30and door 33 will be as strong as the walls or enclosure to insurecomplete entrapment. An observation window 34 may be provided in door 33for examining the victim within cell 30. Cell 30 is also provided with aport 35 to which a gas bottle 36 is connected, bottle 36 having anoperating lever 37 and valve 38 to permit charging a gas into cell 30 asneeded. Floor 9 is provided with an entrapping opening 40 and a pair ofretractable doors 12 and 14 are movable toward each other to encloseopening 40. Doors 12 and 14 are retractable in a guide track 41 eitherside of opening 40. Referring to FIG. 3 there is an enlarged detail incross section of the retractable door 12 which will be duplicated on theopposite side for door 14. Doors 12 and 14 on their inner side areprovided with a rod 42. Rod 42 is in fact a piston rod mounted in acylinder 43 having a piston 44 mounted on the end of rod 42 withincylinder 43. Piston 44 is movable within cylinder 43 that is in theposition a illustrated, door 12 will be abutting door 14 and piston 44will be adjacent one end of the cylinder providing a chamber 45 in whichan explosive charge 46 may be mounted and the explosive charge 46 isconnected to an igniting means 47 which is electrically controlled andconnected by a pair of wires 48 and 49, wires 48 and 49 being connectedin the schematic circuit to be described. It is apparent that with theexplosive means 46 ignited the explosive charge in the chamber 45 willdrive piston 44 to the opposite end of cylinder 43 thus pulling door 12to a fully retracted position While door 14 is similarly retracted tothus provide a complete opening 40 for dropping a victim. In order thatdoors 12 and 14 may be returned to a closed position and returned at aproper speed without endangering the falling victim, pistons 43 oneither end of doors 12 and 14 are provided with a gas or pressurizedbottle 45 that is connected to a chamber 46 within cylinder 43 to permitthe pressurized gas to force piston 44 back to the opposite end ofcylinder 43 thus closing doors 12 and 14 to their fully closed positionas illustrated in FIG.

2. The pressurized gas in bottle is controlled by a shut off valve 47.Shut off valve 47 may be operated by a gear 48 that is in turn driven bya motor 49. Motor 49 is electrically connected by wires 50 and 51 to aschematic circuit to be described. Thus it is apparent that doors 12 and14 are retracted in the most rapid manner by explosive charge and areclosed or returned to their original position under the control of theteller or under a time control to insure a safe passage of the victiminto cell 30 before doors 12 and 14 are closed.

Referring to FIG. 4 there is illustrated a schematic circuit for theoperating of the various components. With a source of potential such asa battery connected by a wire 61 to a switch 62, that is, one side 63 ofswitch 62, an operating foot lever 64 at the opposite side of switch 62to permit closing switch 62, 64 is in turn connected by a wire 65 to anamplifier 66, amplifier 66 is in turn connected by a wire 67 to theopposite side of the battery 60 to complete the circuit. Amplifier 66 isprovided with a microphone 25 that is connected to the amplifier by apair of wires 68 and 69. A recorder 24 may also be connected to theamplifier 66 by a pair of wires 71 and 72. A speaker 73 may also beconnected by a pair of wires 74 and 75 to the amplifier 66. Thus withthe closing of switch 62 by the teller, the sound system above describedwill be energized and in operation so that all conversation picked up bymicrophone 25 will pass through amplifier 66 to speaker 73 for asecurity ofiicer and to recorder 24 for a tape recording of theconversation. In the event the teller decides to operate the entrappingdoors because of a holdup, a second switch is operated by the teller toignite the explosive elements 46 described in FIG. 3 to open doors 12and 14. Switch 80 is connected on one side 81 by wire 49 to the ignitingelement 47 and switch 80 on the opposite side 82 is connected to wire 61to one side of battery 60 and the opposite side of battery 60 isconnected by wire 67 to wire 48, wire 48 being connected to the oppositeside of the igniting element 47 thus providing the potential to ignite47 and explode element 46 for actuating the piston to retract doors 12and 14. After doors 12 and 14 have been opened for entrapping a victim,they must be again closed but must be closed at a proper time intervalafter the victim has dropped through the trap door. Therefore a thirdswitch 83 is provided to be operated by the teller or to be operated bya time cam of a clock mechanism so that switch 83 will be closed aproper time interval after the victim has propped through the entrappingopening. Switch 83 is connected on the one side 84 by wire 50 to a motor49 and switch 83 is connected on the opposite side 85 to wire 61 whichis connected to one side of battery 60, the opposite side of battery 60being connected by a wire 67 to wire 51 which is connected to theopposite side of motor 49. Thus when switch 83 is closed, whetherphysically by the teller or automatically by a cam 87 driven by a timeswitch (not shown), the closing of switch 83 will energize motor 49which, as described in FIG. 3, will open valve 47 to perrnit thepressurized gas to drive piston 44 back to its original position incylinder 43 closing door 12 and of course since the mechanism isduplicated on the opposite side, it will similarly close door 14 untildoors 12 and 14 abut.

A further refinement to be considered may be illustrated in FIG. 2 inwhich floor 9 is provided with tile 8. The tiles as described in FIG. 1are positioned to define the exact opening for entrapment. Thu whendoors 12 and 14 are retracted they are retracted from their supportingposition under the tiles of the floor and the tiles covering the opening40 will fall with the victim into cell 30. The tiles may be replaceableas a mat when the device is reset for operation at a future date.

Although we have described a particular form of trap door which providesfeatures that are conducive to surprise and immediate entrapment, theoperation of the trap doors may be varied with relation to the othercomponents without departing from the spirit of this invention andalthough an operating circuit has been illustrated by way of showing ameans of performing the functions described, the circuit may be variedto permit the operation of the various components without departing fromthe spirit of this invention and this invention shall be limited only bythe appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A robbery trap for a tellers section in a bank, comprising a pair ofretractable floor panels, retractable away from each other to provide anopening in said floor, an enclosure below said opening, said enclosurebeing slightly greater in periphery than said opening in said floor andof a depth greater than a human body with upstretched arms, saidretractable floor panels retracted away from each other by a pair ofcylinders provided with an explosive charge in each cylinder, saidexplosive charge detonated by an electrical circuit connected to aswitch, each cylinder provided with a piston and piston rod that ismoved by said explosive charge, said piston rods each connected to oneof said floor panels, said floor panels closeable by a switch that isoperated by a timing device to close said floor panels by introducingfluid pressure into said cylinders to force said piston in an oppositedirection.

2. In a device according to claim 1 in which there is a camera and arecorder to record visually and by sound the operations during theopening and closing of said floor panels and in which said camera andsaid recorder are stopped with the closing of said floor panels.

3. In a device according to claim 1 in which said retractable floorpanels are covered by a pad to match the floor covering and in whichsaid pad falls through said opening in the floor when said floor panelsare retracted.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 845,629 2/1907Gaynor 109-3 1,533,243 4/1925 Galterio l09-3 2,671,428 3/1954 Hill49-360 3,148,640 9/1964 Billi l0920 FOREIGN PATENTS 290,932 5/1928 GreatBritain.

REINALDO P. MACHADO, Primary Examiner.

1. A ROBBERY TRAP FOR A TELLER''S SECTION IN A BANK, COMPRISING A PAIROF RETRACTABLE FLOOR PANELS, RETRACTABLE AWAY FROM EACH OTHER TO PROVIDEAN OPENING IN SAID FLOOR, AN ENCLOSURE BELOW SAID OPENING, SAIDENCLOSURE BEING SLIGHTLY GREATER IN PERIPHERY THAN SAID OPENING IN SAIDFLOOR AND OF A DEPTH GREATER THAN A HUMAN BODY WITH UPSTRETCHED ARMS,SAID RETRACTABLE FLOOR PANELS RETRACTED AWAY FROM EACH OTHER BY A PAIROF CYLINDERS PROVIDED WITH AN EXPLOSIVE CHARGE IN EACH CYLINDER, SAIDEXPOLSIVE CHARGE DETONATED BY AN ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT CONNECTED TO ASWITCH, EACH CYLINDER PROVIDED WITH A PISTON AND PISTON ROD THAT ISMOVED BY SAID EXPLOSIVE CHARGE, SAID PISTON RODS EACH CONNECTED TO ONEOF SAID FLOOR PANELS, SAID FLOOR PANELS